


Water Under the Bridge

by ScribblerQueen1



Category: Glee, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Gen, M/M, Mentions of past bullying and suicidal thoughts, Pre-Canon, Sebastian Smythe is Barry Allen | The Flash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:34:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29524416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScribblerQueen1/pseuds/ScribblerQueen1
Summary: Kurt moves to Central city in order to breakaway from his on/off again relationship with Blaine after their divorce. He doesn't have the same love for NYC anymore and takes an opportunity for a role on a rising tv show being filmed in Central months before the particle accelerator explodes. He runs into Barry and learns the full truth about his past and they start a new friendship.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Kurt Hummel, Eddie Thawne/Iris West, Kurt Hummel/Sebastian Smythe
Comments: 8
Kudos: 44





	Water Under the Bridge

Barry is running late for work, not exactly unusual. He’s chronically late, it’s practically genetic at this point. But out of all the things he doesn’t expect to happen on his way to work is to run into someone he knew from high school. Specifically someone he knew from going to Dalton Academy under the name Sebastian Smythe for a short period of time before Hunter Clarington ruined that all.

That specific someone was Kurt Hummel.

Barry crashes into him as he rounds a corner and manages to grab out and stop the other man from falling and steadies him.

“I’m so sorry! I was not watching where I was going, that was totally my fault-Kurt?” Barry tilts his head as he registers the face in front of him.

Kurt looks to be just as stunned as him. As far as Barry knew, Kurt was living in New York. What would he be doing in Central city? The last time he’d seen him, Barry had helped Blaine propose to Kurt shortly before Barry left Dalton after having his real name exposed. The memory still leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. The Warblers had still accepted him afterwards, it was just the PTA board that wanted him gone. He’d shamefully left to avoid the attention it would bring, and quietly disappeared from his friends’ lives.

“Sebastian- oh, wait that’s wrong isn’t it. Um, I actually don’t remember what your real name is? It’s been so long.” Kurt tries to correct himself but his memory fails him.

“It’s Barry-uh, it’s so weird to run into you. What are you-shit! I’m late! Sorry! Again!” Barry takes off running again, dodging people, leaving Kurt behind him. Slightly bewildered.

“Huh.” Kurt says as he watches Barry disappear into the crowd.

Barry admittedly forgets that he’d even seen Kurt that morning, after being yelled at by Captain Singh for being late and then rushing to get started with that morning’s crime scene. Things go back to their normal routine without a second thought until two weeks later, when Barry heads to Jitters on his day off.

He’s sitting down enjoying some coffee and a muffin, occasionally talking with Iris when she passes by while working. Barry looks up and spots Kurt sitting across the room at another table. He’s not sure what to do. Last time he saw him, he’d literally ran off on him. It’s not like they were friends before either. His angsty teenage self had tried to steal his boyfriend, who was probably now his husband. Yeah, Barry wasn’t going to walk over there and be the one to try and talk to him. If he’s lucky, Kurt is only in Central temporarily and will be gone before he knows it then he’ll never see him again.

Iris however, is paying attention to him and notices him glance at Kurt every so often.

“Why don’t you go say hello?” She suggests, nodding her head in Kurt’s direction. “He’s cute, I’m sure he’s your type.”

“Actually, we already know each other. Met in high school, we definitely do not like each other based on past experience.” Barry starts to explain to Iris. She, however, cuts him off.

“Well, things change, people change. You can still go over and try.” Iris tries again to encourage him.

“Iris, I’m not going over there.” Barry states firmly.

“Fine, if you won’t I will.” She tells him, walking away. Barry panics.

“Iris, don’t! Get back here!” He tries to stop her without attracting any attention to himself but she blows him off. Barry couldn’t even tell her that he was taken so it was pointless to begin with but his best friend was making another effort at playing matchmaker. 

Iris walks up to Kurt and greets him. “Hi, welcome to Jitters! Can I get you anything?” She proceeds to strike up a conversation by guise of working.

“Tell him if he wants to come over and talk to me he can do it himself.” Kurt tells her without looking up from his phone.

“Oh, that’s fine. I’m just making him nervous so that he gets up and walks over here himself.” Iris responds, winking at Kurt over their little secret.

“Well, then. Nice to meet you. Kurt Hummel.” He introduces himself to Iris.

“Iris West, Barry’s best friend and foster sister. So, Barry said you two know each other?” Iris inquires.

“Sort of, not really. It’s complicated. How long do you think you’ll have to stand here to make him nervous enough?” Kurt asks her as he glances at Barry, who is trying to not look like he’s looking in their direction.

“Just long enough, in the meantime, anything I can get you?” Iris asks again.

“Nonfat Mocha.” Kurt requests.

“Sure, coming right up.” Iris smiles and turns on her heel heading to the counter to get the order.

Barry tries to grab her attention so he can figure out what is going on but she ignores him. He glances back at Kurt, who he can definitely see smirking at him. Well, he might as well bite the bullet now. He stands up and starts to head over.  
“Uh, hey. Sorry about that, I didn’t think she’d come over here. She thought I was checking you out and was trying to be helpful.” Barry explains to him and he looks fully amused.

“It was adorable that she was trying to set you up.” Kurt comments to him.

“Yeah, although it was kind of pointless to begin with because you’re taken already.” He mentions and then sees the look on Kurt’s face. “Is something wrong?”

“Not really, it’s just Blaine and I aren’t together anymore. We divorced a few months ago.” He reveals to Barry who is surprised to hear that.

“Oh, wow, I did not expect to hear that honestly. So, what are you doing in Central city?” He makes an attempt to move past the obviously sore topic.

“I thought it was time for a change, New York wasn’t what I wanted anymore.” Kurt starts to explain. “So, I auditioned for a tv show. Something different, not Broadway, not New York. They offered me the role with the possibility of going from guest star to main cast if it goes well enough.”

“That’s great news, what show is it? Or are you contractually obligated not to say?” He says, interested now that he might be seeing more of Kurt. It wouldn’t hurt to be on friendlier terms if he had to see him occasionally.

“No, it’s that magic slash fantasy, supernatural show that’s got like two seasons already. It’s called Nightwick, have you heard of it?” Kurt tells him.

“Oh, yeah I think I’ve heard about it. I haven’t watched it though, I heard it’s supposed to be really good.” He mentions.

“I haven’t officially watched it either, but I’m going to now that I’m going to be on it. Hopefully it’ll help me understand the character better and they’ll keep me on. But, what are you doing now?” He stops to ask Barry.

“Oh, I’m a forensic scientist, I work as a CSI for Central city police.” Barry offers the information in return.

This piques Kurt’s interest. “Wow, I wasn’t expecting that. I actually don’t know what I expected. I think most of the people I know from glee club that went into some arts or related field, I think you're one of the few that hasn’t.”

“Well, it’s not like we really got a chance to know each other really.” Barry comments and it’s true.

“Yeah, maybe it’s time we start? It’s not like we’re in high school anymore, we're older, not fighting over boys anymore hopefully. It would be actually nice to know some people while I’m living here.” Kurt suggests to him. “Water under the bridge?”

“Yeah, water under the bridge.” Barry sticks out his hand. “Barry Allen.”

“Kurt Hummel.” He returns the handshake and they continue talking.

Iris brings over Kurt’s drink and retrieves Barry’s things from his original table, so that the two could continue talking. They talk about what places and things Kurt should know now that he’s moving to Central city, and learning a few shared interests by the end of their conversation. They give each other their numbers before the two eventually part ways.

To Barry’s surprise they do text each other occasionally over the next few days, enough that Joe takes notice.

“Hey, Iris mentioned something about a boy?” Joe has no subtly about asking him.

“It’s just someone I know from Dalton, he moved to Central recently.” Barry answers him.

“So, is there anything?” He hints to him, and Barry rolls his eyes.

“No, Joe. There’s nothing between us, if that’s what you’re asking.” He replies to Joe, sighing exasperatedly.

“I was just asking.” The tone implying otherwise.

“Sure.” Barry sighs and continues on with work.

Barry sees Kurt at Jitters quite a few times as he’s settling into Central. Kurt is busy getting his apartment set up, talking with the director and producer of his show, and being on set for script reads and beginning to film his first scenes. Some of their chats are brief, with busy schedules for both of them. Other times they have a day off and suddenly realize they’d been there chatting for a few hours.

“You’re such a dork.” Kurt laughs at Barry’s rant on the abysmal science that they were trying to use to support the fantasy and magic use on Nightwick.

“I’m just saying that they could try harder to make me believe but if they can’t even use the terms correctly, I’m going to throw my laptop across the room watching the damn thing.” Barry huffs in annoyance. The two of them were discussing the latest episode that they’d both watched.

“It’s fantasy, maybe that’s how science works in the fantasy world, so it’s not scientifically wrong at all.” He suggests to him.

“No, I refuse.” Barry states, leaning back as he takes a sip of his drink.

“Hey, Barry.” He turns at the sound of his name and sees Joe getting in line.

“Hey, Joe, did you get called in?” Barry asks him as he sees that Joe is dressed for work.

“Yeah, so much for the day off. We should still be good for dinner tonight. Hey, who’s your friend?” Joe nods in Kurt’s direction.

“Oh, this is Kurt.” Kurt smiles, giving a wave.

“Hello, Kurt Hummel, nice to meet you-” He starts off saying.

“You can just call me Joe, I’m Barry’s foster dad.” He says introducing himself. “So, you’re Kurt. It’s nice to finally put a name to a face, are you settling into Central city alright?” 

“Yes, Barry’s actually been really helpful. I was kind of worried about moving somewhere I didn’t know anyone for the first time but thanks to him I’m not.” He informs Joe, practically singing his praises.

“That’s good, hey if you want, we’re having a family dinner tonight and you're free to come over if you're not busy.” Joe offers back, Barry discreetly shoots him a look that he blatantly ignores. “A home cooked meal never hurt when helping adjust to a new place.”

“Are you sure, I don’t want to intrude?” Kurt asks.

“You wouldn’t be, you’re Barry’s friend. Besides we always have plenty of food.” Joe insists.

“Then I’ll see you at dinner.” Kurt agrees to his offer.

“Barry can give you the address, I’ve got to go. See you two later.” Joe says as his name is called for his order, he grabs the coffee and makes a swift exit.

“Your family is really sweet.” Kurt comments to him afterwards. Barry however thinks that they’re being nosy and pushy, but he’s not going to say that to him.

But regardless of that, Barry does text him the address of the West house. And he arrives early because he might be a bit weirded out by Kurt seeing the house he’d grown up in, not at all for reasons he will not mention that Iris and Joe seem to imply. Nope not at all. He’s helping set up the table when the door rings, and Iris practically runs to the door before he has a chance to do anything.  
“Kurt! You made it! Come on in.” Iris says, overly excited about this. It’s just dinner, she’s acting like they’re chaperoning his first date.

Barry looks up as he sets the last plate down and sees Kurt wearing a casual dress shirt and pants, or at least a casual as Kurt would go. The shirt is well fitted and the sleeves are properly rolled up, showing off surprisingly toned forearms. Kurt had definitely changed in ways that he hadn’t noticed before and he tries to shake off the weird feeling he’s getting. 

“I brought dessert and wine, as a thank you.” Kurt mentions, holding out a bag to Iris. She peeks into the bag and makes noises of excitement.

“This looks great, I’ll go put it in the fridge for now.” Iris throws Barry a mischievous look, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively at him. He chooses to ignore her implications.

Kurt turns and his eyes land on Barry and he smiles. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Barry knows that they aren’t close enough to warrant a hug, and a handshake would be just weirdly formal but he’s not sure how else to greet Kurt. Still the greeting feels like it falls short.

“Uh, would you like something to drink?” He manages to summon some other words.

“Yeah, that’d be great.” Barry sets about getting Kurt a drink from the kitchen and when he gets back, Iris is with Kurt pointing out some pictures in the living room.

“Awe! He was so cute, how old was he when this was taken?” Kurt glances over to him as he brings the drink. “Your sister is already spilling all your embarrassing childhood stories, too late.”

“Should’ve known you would have ulterior motives for coming.” Barry quips back.

“Truly, you should’ve known better.” Kurt responds in kind, taking his drink.

Things settle into a more comfortable feeling, and the four of them start dinner soon after.

“So, Kurt, Barry had mentioned that you moved to Central city for a job. What do you do?” Joe mentions, after a bit of small conversation starts up. Kurt is mildly surprised that Barry casually mentioned things about Kurt to his family, but it’s not unreasonable he supposes.

“I actually took a role for a tv show that’s filming here in Central. It’s called Nightwick, right now I’m only going to be in a few episodes before this season ends but they might extend my contract for next season.” He reveals to them.

“Oh, wow! That’s amazing! Barry didn’t mention you were in acting.” Iris exclaims, excited to learn this fact. She often got a little starstruck, not that Barry didn’t but she just tended to be more outward than he was at times. So he hadn’t really bothered to mention that fact.

“Oh my god and I watch that show! It’s so good, wait when are you going to be on? What kind of character are you going to be playing?” She’s immediately excited.

“Well, if you really enjoy the show, then I don’t want to spoil anything for you. But they film episodes about five weeks ahead and I’ve already done two, so you’ll see me in about three weeks.” Kurt tells her. Their conversation devolves into some minor gossip about the show for approximately five minutes while Barry and Joe listen on in amusement.

“You know, I once tried to get Barry to audition for one of those singing competitions when we were younger but he didn’t think he was good enough. Maybe in another life he could’ve been famous but in this one I guess he can just casually acquaint himself with celebrities in this one.” Iris sighs dramatically at him and Barry rolls his eyes.

“I’ve told you science is my first love, nothing can come between us.” He’d heard this half hearted complaint quite a few times from her. He couldn’t blame her, he wondered sometimes what would’ve happened if life had gone differently.

“Oh, I know all about his singing. We were both in rival glee clubs during high school, which now that I say that sounds really ridiculous that we took that so seriously.” Kurt laughs and Barry ends up joining that laughter because in the retrospect, they’d acted really stupid in high school over many things and several years later they’d realized how much they had in common. To even further point out Kurt was having dinner with his family right now. The two of them glanced at each other knowing that they were thinking the same thing and burst into a second fit of laughter.

“Oh, god. It sounds so much worse now.” Barry manages to get out in between laughter.

“So you two met because you were both in a glee club?” Joe asks with a bewildered look on his face. “In rival glee clubs?”

Barry and Kurt can help but continue to crack up at the look on his face.

Despite his nervousness about inviting Kurt to dinner, Barry finds that after that things go pretty swimmingly. Joe and Iris are only a little too happy to share some slightly embarrassing stories about him, but he feels that they’re more comfortable with each other now. They say their goodbyes at the door and Kurt promises to text when he gets back to his apartment and Barry stands on the porch waving goodbye until he drives away. Barry steps back into the house and sees the other two give him a knowing look.

“What?” He questions.  
“Nothing, I like him. He’s better than your usual type of guys.” Joe comments.

“For the last time, Kurt and I are friends. Also, I don’t date ‘bad boys’ as you like to put it.” Barry huffs and walks away to go start the dishes.

A few days later, Kurt is texting Barry on a break in between scenes, utterly exhausted from the pre-sunrise start.

“I’m so tired.”

“Coffee on set is crap.” He texts.

It takes a few moments but Barry texts back. “I’m going on break soon, do you want me to bring you coffee from Jitters? The usual?”

“I would owe you. Please. Pretty please.” Kurt responds smiling as he texts back.

“I’m on my way, text me where you are. I’ll text when I get there.” Barry responds.

“Whose got you all happy?” Kurt looks up to his co-star, Jacob Lansford, who’d been extremely welcoming to Kurt since he’d started filming on Nightwick.

“A friend is bringing me coffee.” He tells Jacob and his co-star’s face lights up at the mention of coffee.

“Do you think they’d mind bringing some for me? I’ll pay it back.” He quickly asks.

“Wait, is someone getting coffee? I’ll pay too!” Another of his co-workers shouts from the distance.

“Hold on, let me ask.” Kurt holds up his hand and then sends out a quick text.

“Sure, just let me give Iris a heads up. It shouldn’t be busy right now so it shouldn’t take long.” He gets the go ahead.

“Yeah, just tell me what you guys want, I’ll tell him.” By the end of it, there’s about a dozen orders that Kurt feels rather bad about piling on Barry but he claims he’s got it.

Kurt let’s the head of security know that Barry will be coming by with coffee so that they can let him pass security. In the meantime, they start filming the next scene which actually involves Kurt, so he’s busy keeping track of his place markers and lines for the next fifteen minutes before he hears a call come from the security officer on set.

“Kurt, your friend is here with the coffee.” And apparently that’s the signal for everyone to not give a shit what’s going on set anymore. Coffee is here, the most important thing on everyone’s mind.

“Alright, twenty minute break!” Their producer calls out.

Barry appears behind from one of their burly security guards, armed with two Jitters takeaway bags carefully containing everyone’s orders. He’s able to swiftly produce Kurt’s coffee first, ahead of everyone else’s and hands it to him.

“That was fast, thank you.” Kurt comments as he accepts his nonfat mocha. 

“Well, everyone at Jitters is apparently big fans of Nightwick so they prioritized the order and also threw in some things.” Barry says showing him two boxes of pastries and one large to go coffee container for anyone else didn’t order anything specific.

“That had to have cost a lot! You didn’t have to do that.” Kurt remarks as he realizes just how much Barry had actually brought.

“It wasn’t actually that much, the manager put their discount on and like a bunch of deals. Besides, I’m pretty sure everyone else just paid me back way more than I actually spent.” 

Kurt relented and they continued to chat for the next few minutes, while everyone else was busy enjoying their goodies. Barry finds that it’s actually interesting to be behind the scenes of a tv show, also getting to talk with some of Kurt’s fellow co-stars. It’s definitely better than having to be there for police work, which has happened a few times in the past. It’s less exciting when crime is involved because the celebrities are all hidden away, and producers are usually making it difficult for him to do his job, wanting everything hush hush.

A producer and writer pass by the group, disagreeing over something in the script, when Barry catches part of their discussion and without thinking makes a comment.

“Actually, that might work better if your reasoning is based on quantum mechanics.” The two stop and look at Barry.

“How?” The producer inquires.

Barry automatically goes into a spiel based off of the discussion that he’d heard, explaining the science.

“That’s way better, let’s use that.” He pauses looking confused at Barry. “Who are you, I don’t recognize you?”

“Oh, Barry is a friend of mine. He brought the coffee.” Kurt informed them.  
“What do you do? Our network has been looking for a new science consultant, are you interested in a job?” He offers him.

“I’d have to decline, I already work as a forensic scientist, which I actually have to get back to soon.” Barry politely declines the offer. He does help the writer with the lines before he does take his leave though.

After Barry leaves the set to head back to work, Jacob comes back over to speak with Kurt.

“So is Barry a friend or a _friend_?” Heavily implicating in his words.

“Oh, no. I’m actually very recently divorced and single. Barry’s just a friend.” Kurt tries to explain.

“Hmm. Just friends, got it.” Jacob replies with skepticism. 

Kurt just rolls his eyes at him and walks away to work on their scene again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
